Easter: Why does it Matter?

"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve."(1 Cor. 15:3-5)

Did the death and resurrection of Christ happen and if so, what difference does it make? Does it change the way I think, the way that I love and the way I live my life?

The events that cannot be refuted by both believers and skeptics regarding the death and resurrection of Christ are the following:

1.Scripture records that this event happened throughout the the Old and New Testaments.

2. The prophecies in Scripture recorded this event hundreds of years before it happened.

3. The Church began, and worship changed from Saturday to Sunday.

4. The lives of the apostles changed from cowards to bold believers in Christ.

5. The women were the ones who reported the resurrection to the disciples at a time in history when women did not have a voice of authority with men.

6. Christ appeared to over 500 people after the resurrection.

7. "Books of the Bible accepted and considered authoritative by academia are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, and 1 Thessalonians." Gary Habermas is the leading scholar in the world on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Gary Habermas Minimal Facts Approach

All of this proves once and for all that Jesus is God! No ordinary person could defy death, but Jesus did just that!

Watch as Lee Strobel talks about Jesus' claims to being God.

What difference does it make when I choose to believe that Jesus died and rose again to pay the penalty for my sin?

I become a child of God (John 1:12).

I am forgiven and have eternal life (1 John 5:12-13).

I am secure in God's love (John 10:29).

I am a partner with Christ in life (Colossians 3:4) and privilege (Ephesians 2:6), suffering (2 Timothy 2:12), and service (1 Corinthians 1:9).

I am Christ's friend (John 15:15).

I am a temple, a dwelling place of God. His Spirit and His life dwell in me (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19).

I am a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I am God's workmanship, His handiwork, born anew in Christ to do His work (Ephesians 2:10).

I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house (1 Peter 2:5).

"Love means the cross. God's mercy was expressed in the cross. He did not condemn the world, but came in forgiving love...Becoming a Christian means a deathlike surrender of our life to Christ. We die to our own rights, control of our life, and plans for our future. We will be willing to receive, do, go, stay, speak, and serve as He wills. Christ then comes to live within us to express His loving mercy for others through us.

The cross becomes the basis of our relationships. Our time, energy, resources, and skill are put at Christ's disposal for others. We forgive because we have been forgiven. People do not need to measure up any more than we had to measure up in order for God to love us. We take on the troubles, frustrations, and problems of others as Christ took the cross...Because we have died to self, we have nothing to lose and everything to give."